ZOONOSIS

[giorid]

Hi everyone and happy new 2011, hope it's a good one for all of us. :)

I was just reading an article on PFK and thought I would draw everyones attention to it and maybe even seek your opinion on the subject.
The article talks about infectious diseases that are spread to humans through contact with infected fish water, I quote a small paragraph which says,

"Mycobacterium, the bacteria that cause TB in fish is one of the few COMMON zoonotic infections in the hobby and is a very good reason to take extra care when carrying out maintenance on your aquarium", and that one should wear full length gloves to protect the skin from contact with aquarium water. Should we also wear face masks to block out water droplets from our mouths.
Does anybody think we should take this stuff seriouslyand follow their advice and even have a regular skin check from the doctor for signs of infections, sorry I don't mean to scare anyone, thanks.

[ILLUSN]

you should though to be honest any fish with TB should be detroyed.

in all honesty our immune system is more then capable of fending off tiny ammounts of fish-human compatable pathogens.

if you were an immunocompromised person full length gloves would be a VERY good idea.

[Old Dave]

Does that mean that syphon hoses are out? :oops: :book

Just lifting the lid on an aquarium might be hazardous to your health.

Fish keepers in some countries would be far more exposed than here, but there is always some risk in everything we do.
(and is the risk greater for people who keep wilds??)

...and how would you know if you had a zoonotic disease in a tank?
Send pics to Jothy !!

Is there any record, or even a name, for human diseases being transferred to fish?

Not trying to make light of a potential serious hazard in the hobby, but electricity has probably killed more aquarists than fish borne diseases.

Will watch this topic with interest,
Keep safe,
Dave

[goodoo]

Full length gloves ! your kidding me right. This world has gone crazy. Just man up people. Just make shore you have a smoke in your mouth when doing water changes . Thats what I do, and I still havent caught TB.

[ILLUSN]

As sad above if you are immunocompromisrd ie pre bone marrow transplant, post organ transplant or terminal HIV long gloves would be a good idea. Fish TB is extremely rare in this country all it does to people is cause bump on your hands you won't get full blown TB from fish

[giorid]

What about imported fish from 3rd world countries, their fish might be carriers of the disease and not show it, infecting our aquariums and spreading the disease, maybe we should stop importation and just breed our own, from some of the aquarium shops I have seen around, most do little or no maintenance on their tanks to keep them clean, something to think about I guess, cheers.

[jannie_s]

This should answer your comment and pre entry also requires quarantine

http://www.aqis.gov.au/icon32/asp/ex_casecontent.asp?intNodeId=8872757&intCommodityId=6114&Types=none&WhichQuery=Go+to+full+text&intSearch=1&LogSessionID=0


What about imported fish from 3rd world countries, their fish might be carriers of the disease and not show it, infecting our aquariums and spreading the disease, maybe we should stop importation and just breed our own, from some of the aquarium shops I have seen around, most do little or no maintenance on their tanks to keep them clean, something to think about I guess, cheers.